There are well known lancing devices for puncturing the body of a subject with needles to form pores in the skin to extract bodily fluids to be used for measuring components such as glucose in the body fluid of the subject (for example, refer to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0054920 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011/177523).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0054920 discloses a lancing device provided with an end cap at one end of a tubular housing, and a lancet opening in the end cap, whereby a needle-like lance can advance and retract through the lancet opening. This lancing device has structural elements which are user accessible on the side surface of the housing, and is configured so that a spring exerts a force on the lance causing the lance to extend from the lancet opening when the user presses the user accessible structural element on the side of the housing.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011/177523 discloses a lancing device having a cover section at one end of a cylindrical housing and an operating cap at the other end, and further having a through-hole provided in the cover so that a lancet set needle unit can advance and retract from the through-hole. The lancing device has an operating cap which is slidable in the axial direction of the housing, and is configured so that the sporing exerts a force on the lancet set when the operating cap is pushed on the side of the housing causing the needle unit of the lancet set to protrude from the through-hole of the cover section in the lancing direction.
The lancing device disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0054920 has caused concern that the user accessible structural element may inadvertently operate when the user holds the housing because the direction in which the user holds the housing is the same as the direction of operation of the user accessible structural element. The lancing device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011/177523 has caused concern that the user may inadvertently expose the sharp lancet set needle unit from the end of the cover section when the user operates the operating cap while the cover section is not abutting the body of the user (subject) since the direction in which the user holds the housing is different from the operating direction of the operating cap.